Sunday, December 13, 2009

My favorite winter evenings go something like these: come home early from work (hey it gets dark earlier!), pour yourself a hot cup of cocoa, put on something nice on TV and sit on the sofa cuddled in a shawl and do nothing! Now you might ask what happens to the dinner? and that's where this soup comes in.. this is my favorite one pot wonder meal. Wonder because its an absolutely delicious and healthy soup, cooks entirely with the pantry staples AND most of the cooking time is unattended. Now isn't that a win-win! I am usually game for any hot soup dinner during winter and this one being with lentils is even more heartier and feeling. I usually enjoy this soup with some make-do garlic bread which is just regular whole wheat bread toasted and then flavored with some olive oil and some fresh crushed garlic!

I used to buy the regular brown lentils (picture below) from supermarkets until a friend of mine introduced me to the french green lentils. French green lentils are smaller and darker than the regular brown lentils but I find them more packed in flavor and best of all they retail their shape after cooking much better than the regular brown lentils which tend to fall apart easily. I usually order the french green lentils online and they have now become a staple of my pantry. If you don't have these though brown lentils are just a great substitute. Lentils are a good source of fiber, protein and iron while still being a low-calorie food. Lentils are also supposedly good for your cholesterol numbers! Here are the three lentils that I regularly use in this soup: ones on the far left are french green lentils, far right are regular brown lentils and the red ones are the red split masoor dal.

Recipe is very forgiving and accommodating. Onions, leeks, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, celery, kale.. practically any vegetable you have in the fridge will likely go well with this soup. Also the spice and seasoning amounts are just a guideline, feel free to dress up whichever way tastes best to you!

Rinse the lentils well and add them to the soup pot alongwith 6C water.

Add all the spices.

Let the mixture barely come to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and simmer covered for 30-40minutes until the lentils are tender. Boiling is usually a very vigorous motion for a soup so I just let the soup simmer for an extended period of time.

Once the lentils are tender and soup is ready; remove from heat. Add lime juice, vinegar and cilantro/parsley. Adjust the seasonings and serve!

38 comments:

Dear PJThanks for visiting my blog and the appreciations.This soup is awesome and I can say it is " nicely described, engineered with detailed specifications and executed" :-).Now let me see if I can get the other 2 Lentils in India.

Lentil soup or rather a mixture of Indian Lentils with all kind of Vegetables is a regular item in my house. Your one is new to me specially the seasoning.Happy cooking

hey PJ..just finished a big bowl of one such lentil soup n seeing this i want more...:)about the green garlic that you love so much....you can grow your own with garlic pods , actually i planted some today owing to the many queries i got for this herb , will update about how it grows....you just need a small pot about 6 inch deep n you can plant at least 25 pods in one medium sized pot....give it a try n you would love that..

To answer your comments on my blog, jerusalem artichokes are in season right now. I think they will be in season until March.

As for their taste, their taste like apples to me with a potato mixture. But they don't taste potato or artichokes. Actually, I am not sure if I am 100% right, but I think even if they are called jerusalem artichokes, they are not related to artichokes.

By the way, your soup looks perfect for the cold weather we are having right now in Toronto. :)

Awww...I am so late here...there are lot of ppl in Q here. :D Please reserve one bowl for me PJ. :)I didn't knw about french lentils...I do have other twos. And lentil soup is always welcome. Look so yummy! Thanks for pointing that book. :)

yes, a warm shawl some hot soup makes for a perfect winter evening. the soup looks very inviting :)

was just going through your comments and stopped at the jerusalem artichoks, cos since a last couple of days this one vegetable has been staring at me from a new cookbook I bought. you know it looks quite similar to the Indian root vegetable called 'arbi' colocasia. i am wondering if they are the same and because maybe the jerusalem connection caused it to be called arbi in hindi.

Sonia, thanks so much! I have a hot soup bowl reserved for you already :) The book is great though, its the book I have gone to most for recipes! There is another one by the same author 'How to cook everything vegetarian' I wonder now if I should have gone with that.

Rajani, thanks :) Jerusalem artichokes looked so interesting to me too, I asked Karine the same question if they taste like taro roots or artichokes.. looks like they taste closer to apples and potatoes. So could be related to arbi. I am hoping to get a hand on them soon!

Yasmeen, thanks :) This soup is a perfect remedy for a wintry soul! I am so glad you liked it.

Wanted to thank you initially for your creative writing. It inspired me to finally make a recipe out of French green lentils I purchased a year ago on my trip to Vancouver, B.C., Canada. I made a Lentil Couscous soup last night, which came out really nice.

And to my amazement, I am thankful that I stumbled on to your blog as I discovered finally the name and then the look (on google images) of ‘the’ vegetable I had been in search for -- for over 8 years!! Thanks also to your commenting visitors !! Although, I’ll bet it would only be a miracle to find it here in the USA. About 10 years ago my husbands family cooked a meal while I visited them in the Middle East that had rice and [now I know the name and spelling-thank you all] “Colocasia” / “Arbi” and lemon on the side. I could never get it out of my head, how wonderful this root veggie was; it was served cooked & diced atop a bed of rice with a slice of lemon on the side. I bet the closest thing would be Jerusalem artichokes? I have seen J.artichokes in stores, but have never tried them and mostly had no idea what I was starring at. Do you think I can get them from an Indian or Middle Eastern Market??

Hi Anon, thanks so much for dropping by and for your kind words! That sure makes my day.

Best part about food blogging so far for me has been just this collective knowledge of so many wonderful cooks all around the world who share the same passion for cooking and exploring new ingredients!

I have seen arbi roots in Indian grocery stores, so you have a good chance of getting them there. For last two weeks I have even seen J. artichokes at my farmer's market too (Sunnyvale, CA) so there is a good chance your local farmer's market may carry them too and I agree arbi and Jerusalem artichokes are very similar. Hope you find it nearby and have a great time cooking! Thanks for dropping by and hope to see you again :)

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